Google maps

I am using the Google Maps feature in a survey but I need to allow people to type in place names and area codes to find their locations. Right now it just seems to have a drag map with lat/long values which is not very user friendly.

I've read a bit about making plugins for LimeSurvey but it doesn't really look like the API has that level of functionality yet that would allow me to override the maps system, or am I wrong?

I guess this could be pretty easily added by editing the core files, as Google already provides all that functionality. As far as I can see it's just a case of adding in a text box and pasting in a little bit of javascript to pass the search to the maps API.

I don't want to mess too much with core files that will be regularly updated though. I wonder if anyone could point me in the direction of where the best place to edit/override this code would be?